Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

282 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
"The surrender occurred upon the Fourth. In the different
battles in the rear of Vicksburg, including the siege and
surrender, our army lost, in killed, wounded, and missing,
8,575 rnen- The rebels lost, including the army surrendered,
46,470."
How my mind flies back to that famous Fourth of July!
We, far away on the frontier, were alive to the crisis through
which our country was passing in sixty-three, and patriotism
ran at flood tide. We felt convinced that success must come
to the Union, and on this Fourth of July we decided that we
must celebrate,in the hope that our country would yet be one.
The towns of Fairhaven and Maine Prairie determined to
have a picnic in one of the groves near the former place. We
did not know what a decisive event was to occur upon that
already great date, but we had a real celebration in spite of all
our difficulties and troubles. The attendance was large.
Ministers came out from St. Cloud, and a number of soldiers
on furlough made an interesting assembly. Good, stirring
music made the woods echo. How the soldier boys sang the
national song so popular with them, and with us too — "We'll
rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again"— I see the
picture yet! The soldiers and some of the citizens stood upon
the platform under the spreading branches of the oak trees,
and our hearts rallied once again about the old flag as they
sang. A few days later we read in the papers that on that
same day, far south of us, Vicksburg was surrendering, and as
the boys in blue ran "Old Glory" upon the court house of the
beleaguered city they sang the same song: "We'll rally
round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again, shouting the
battle cry of freedom!" Far north and far south the battle
cry of freedom was sounding, but the war was not over.
Datus writes of the day following: "On the 5th of July
we moved out to attack Joseph E. Johnston, who had collected
an army of about twenty thousand at Jackson, Mississippi.
On the 1 2th of July we invested that city. The fighting was
continuous until the 17th, when Johnston evacuated the place
and fell back to Meridian, Mississippi. We did not follow,
but returned to Vicksburg; and from there we were removed